One of the nice things about taking a short break from blogging is that you have no shortage of content to post when you return. Since I last posted to this community, I've added a couple guitars to my collection. With that said, now I just have to learn to play them properly. It's a little embarrassing having all these guitars and being at the playing level I'm at. I think I'm at an intermediate level. I'm at that point in my playing where somedays I think I'm getting it, and other days I realize that I'm still terrible.
This was my first real guitar. It survived the punk rock years. 🤣 I believe I got this on either my 12th or 16th birthday. It's a mid 80s Fender Squire made in Japan. I'm pretty sure this was possibly the second year they made these. I researched the serial # one day in an online database. I believe that post is somewhere on the Hive blockchain. Besides that, I forgot the details.
I still love playing this, but after changing up so many guitars now, it's currently my least favorite to play. I hate where the selector switch is and the volume knobs. It plays lovely, but I often hit that selector switch. When I was a kid, all I knew was that Jimi Hendrix played a Strat so I had to have one. I didn't realize he played it upside down and that left the selector and volume knobs well out of his way. I've heard several guitarists kind of poo poo the Stratocaster for the placement of the knobs and switch, and now that I'm older and a more seasoned player, I get it. Still some people will live and die on this hill.
This one sat in storage after a 20 year guitar break. I've cleaned up and done some basic setup work. Did some repairs, but I try to keep this as original as possible. I don't play it much anymore either.
The stool was purchased on Amazon. It works as a guitar stand and a stool to sit on.
Purchased this one on Amazon. It's a cheap Vietnamese built guitar. Cost was only $135 before Supreme Leader Trump's tariff policy. Not sure what the cost is now. It had awesome reviews and I wanted a cheap guitar for playing outside in the summer. These need a little setup work when they arrive, but with a couple little tweaks to the truss rod and intonation they are very nice playing guitars. I have noticed a lot of fret wear though. Still for the price, absolutely love this for a second guitar. Currently resides hung on the wall over the bed. I often play this at night in bed.
Found this one at a garage sale. I was shocked when the guy said he only wanted $25 for it. It's a Yamaha Dreadnought. It's one of the lower end models, still about $160 guitar. I also found the Gator hard case for it at a garage sale for only $5. These are 2 of my proudest garage sale finds.
I love the playability and sound of this one. I rarely play it just because of it's size and it's really loud. I definitely wont sell it unless I come across something better. This is the guitar I grab when I want to sound as good as possible. It's a really nice playing and nice sounding guitar.
These 2 are currently my favorites. Both were purchased at garage sales.
The Egmond on the left is from the 1960s. I paid $5 for it. It had about a decades worth of dust on it when I purchased it. No strings. Half the tuning pegs/knobs were broke off. When I got it home and cleaned it up I couldn't believe how nice the wood looked. I wish I would have taken a picture of how it looked when I brought it home. I purchased some Stewmac economy tuning pegs and restringed it. I absolutely love the sound of this one. I currently play this one mostly in open tunings and also play slide with it from time to time.
The Samick was purchased in really great condition for $25. Another garage sale find. I picked it up and started playing it and absolutely loved how it played. I had wanted a parlor guitar for awhile. I didn't even hesitate, reached into my pocket and bought it. It sits next to my couch, and is probably the most played guitar in the house. If you ever come across one of these, I highly recommend getting it. Very nice playing guitars.
This is my most recent find. This is a Maeari Flying V. It was gifted to me by my cousins husband. It was his from his childhood. He was cleaning out his attic and called me up and asked if I wanted it. I'm currently in the midst of doing a guitar recovery on it. Ordered a new selector switch. New volume and tone knobs. It needs work but it plays and sounds really nice. This is currently my favorite electric guitar. I just ordered parts for it, they should arrive in the next few days. I'll do another post on this guitar and it's restoration.
Lastly my 2 cigar boxes. I haven't been playing these much. I bought them to help me learn slide. Honestly, the way the strings are spaced hurts my knuckles. With my arthritis it's just not worth it. I rarely pick these up anymore. The left one is a StewMac kit with several mods, the other is a Topnaca with a piezo pickup upgrade. If you're trying to learn slide, I'd highly recommend learning on a cigar box. It makes life a hell of a lot easier and when all is said and done, you'll be able to port that technique over to your traditional guitar with very little effort. It may have hurt my knuckles, but I learned a lot in the year that I dedicated to playing these. I still pick them up from time to time. They have an incredibly unique sound.
Here's an old 3Speak of me playing the StewMac. I've changed the fretboard since then. The StewMac neck warped, the new neck is reinforced with steel. I also added some springs inside that gives it a much deeper resonator kind of sound with a lot of sustain and resonance.
So that's my guitar collection. I've added a couple since I lasted posted about music here. I'll do a follow up post as I work on the Flying V. I'll try and post some play videos soon too. If you've read this all the way to the end, thanks! Hope you enjoyed the post and thanks for reading!